{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-72.025","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 72.025","heading":"Circumstances requiring post -mortem examination to be performed by","body":"coroner.\nCoroners shall require a post -mortem examination to be performed in the following\ncircumstances:\n(1) When the death of a human being appears to be caused by homicide or violence;\n(2) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of suicide;\n(3) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of the presence of drugs\nor poisons in the body;\n(4) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a motor vehicle\naccident and the operator of the motor vehicle left the scene of the a ccident or the\nbody was found in or near a roadway or railroad;\n(5) When the death of a human being occurs while the person is in a state mental\ninstitution or mental hospital when there is no previous medical history to explain\nthe death, or while the person is in police custody, a jail or penal institution;\n(6) When the death of a human being occurs in a motor vehicle accident and when an\nexternal examination of the body does not reveal a lethal traumatic injury;\n(7) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a fire or explosion;\n(8) When the death of a child appears to indicate child abuse prior to the death;\n(9) When the manner of death appears to be other than natural;\n(10) When human skeletonized remains are found;\n(11) When post -mortem decomposition of a human corpse exists to the extent that\nexternal examination of the corpse cannot rule out injury or where the\ncircumstances of death cannot rule out the commission of a crime;\n(12) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of drowning;\n(13) When the death of an infant appears to be caused by sudden infant death syndrome\nin that the infant has no previous medical history to explain the death;\n(14) When the death of a human being occurs as a result of an accident;\n(15) When the death of a human being occurs under the age of forty (40) and there is no\npast medical history to explain the death;\n(16) When the death of a human being occurs at the work site and there is no apparent\ncause of death such as an injury or when ind ustrial toxics may have contributed to\nthe cause of death;\n(17) When the body is to be cremated and there is no past medical history to explain the\ndeath;\n(18) When the death of a human being is sudden and unexplained; and\n(19) When the death of a human being occurs and the decedent is not receiving treatment\nby a licensed physician and there is no ascertainable medical history to indicate the\ncause of death.","path":["KRS Chapter 72"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=24280","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:33Z","sha256":"2d63070a0b18d98087339a69dc339e5b15ec2de11736fa1214b952677f8f6b97","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-72.022","next":"us-ky/krs-72.026"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}